Meet the team

Created by the dynamic Mascolo family of Toni&Guy fame, essensuals is a network of passionate and talented franchisees dedicated to making essensuals a global success story.

essensuals salon artistic team

With their collective fingers on the pulse of what our clients want, the essensuals Salon Artistic team are a collective of franchisees from across the country. Handpicked by Managing Director Christian Mascolo, the essensuals Salon Artistic team represent a culmination of talent, from leading men’s stylist Jim Shaw of essensuals MEN to Redken Colour Ambasador Steven Fordham from Rugby. Each of these fantastic franchisees are the best in their field and bring a unique insight into the essensual client, working with Creative Director Gary France and Technical Educational Director Francessco Fontana to develop cut and colour techniques with their client in mind.

Toni Mascolo OBEChairman / Chief executive

Toni Mascolo and brother Guy co-founded the first Toni&Guy salon in 1963 Clapham, London, joined by their two brothers Bruno and Anthony. By the 1980s the company had grown from a salon to hundreds in over 20 countries world-wide. Driven by their philosophy of pushing the boundaries of hairdressing and delivering creativity, quality and consistency to every client, Toni and Guy Mascolo were one of the first to begin the franchising boom, with the first franchised salon opening in Brighton.

In 1997, Toni established the diffusion salon and beauty brand ‘essensuals’ with his son and daughter, Christian and Sacha Mascolo.

In October 2008 Toni Mascolo was awarded an honorary OBE for his phenomenal contribution to the industry – an extremely prestigious accolade, demonstrating his overwhelming success in the business arena. In addition to this Toni was honoured by the Fellowship of British Hairdressers with a ‘lifetime achievement award’.

2013 was an award filled year for Toni:
In March, Toni and his wife Pauline Mascolo were honored with the award of 'Knight & Dame Commander of Saint Gregory from the Catholic church', the honour was bestowed personally by The Vatican City and Pope Benedict XVI, before his recent retirement. Whilst May saw Toni announced as ‘Honorary Professor for Durham University Business School' and in October Toni being was awarded an 'AH + AIPP International Legend Award', jointly given by the Alternative Hair + the AIPP (Hairdressing Trade Press International Association – Association Internationale Presse Professionnelle Coiffure). Only one other person has received this award to date.

Christian Mascolo Managing Director

As the eldest son of Toni Mascolo - Christian has his roots firmly in the world of hairdressing. At the tender age of 16 Christian trained as a stylist later working in London’s Toni&Guy Covent Garden and Sloane Square salons before becoming an accomplished member of the Toni&Guy International Artistic Team.

In 1997, Christian worked closely with his father in establishing the first essensuals salon and the essensuals brand was born. Having worked as an educator in the Toni&Guy Academy for many years, Christian worked with the essensuals team to develop an educational programme based on the success of the Toni&Guy system, by incorporating both cutting and colouring techniques to create a company of exceptional all round hairdressers. Dedicated to providing every essensuals stylist with on-going training, Christian’s expertise and enthusiasm ensures that quality styling and technical work is maintained throughout the group.

Fast forward almost 20 years and Christian’s role as Managing Director of the essensuals Group sees him take on an integral part in the growth of essensuals, both here in the UK and beyond. Working closely with the essensuals franchisees network and colour house REDKEN to create unique partnerships - offering the essensual client the highest possible service and exceptional product choice.

With massive expansion plans for Asia and the US, Christian’s role is ever evolving. The perfect balance of creativity and business acumen, Christian’s hands-on, down to earth, approachable style of management has seen him remain at the centre of this rapidly growing salon group.

Sacha Mascolo-Tarbuck Global Creative Director

As the daughter of co-founder Toni Mascolo, Sacha was literally born into hairdressing. Now Global Creative Director of the company, Sacha proved at an early age that she had the creative vision and talent to surpass her peers and take the direction needed to make Toni&Guy a ‘SuperBrand’.

With an array of accolades to her name, Sacha was the youngest ever winner of Newcomer of the Year at the British Hairdressing Awards at the age of 19. She then went on to win the title of London Hairdresser of the Year in 1999 for the essensuals group. Sacha has also won the prestigious title of Fellowship Hairdresser of the Year 2010/11.

Her dynamic approach has also initiated the brand's sponsorship of the UK's premier fashion event London Fashion Week, with Toni&Guy celebrating its tenth year as the official sponsor in 2014, as well as ongoing collaborations with some the hottest British designers including GILES and Jean-Pierre Braganza.

Sacha co-founded the professional haircare range label.m along with her father Toni and in 2013 instigated its status as the Official Haircare Product of London Fashion Week – the first product sponsorship of its kind! Sacha has been instrumental in the creation of the Toni&Guy Magazine and under her co-editorship the magazine has been awarded Best Consumer Publication at the APA Awards.

During her career, Sacha has worked closely with photography guru David Bailey and has been a key session stylist for a number of high profile magazines - her celebrity client list has included Erin O'Connor, Helena Christensen, Jamelia, Jerry Hall, Lizzy Jagger, Sadie Frost and Cat Deeley. Her editorial credits include British Vogue, Italian Vogue, L'Uomo, Harper's Bazaar, Tatler, Wig, Elle, The Sunday Telegraph, plus shows for Calvin Klein, Prada, Vercace and Helmut Lang.

With an eye for detail and a personal passion for the fashion industry, Sacha was also made a member of the British Fashion Council in 2010 and contributes to exciting new projects such as the Vogue Fashion Fund. In addition to this Sacha annually judges the Scottish Fashion Awards.